Unrequited
by LastCetra
Summary: This is a fic set a few months after the game ends, and deals with Tifa's unrequited love as she speaks with Cloud. It is so Anti CloTi I'm am telling all those people to stay away! This also has Aeris x Cloud references. one-shot


**Unrequited**

_**By LastCetra**_

A man and woman walked into Nibelhiem town. They were both quite young, definitely in their early twenties, and looked to be in amazingly good shape. This wasn't much of a surprise though, since they were two of a party of eight that had saved the world just a few months before. The man, who stood out anyway because of his spiky blonde hair and mako enhanced eyes, looked really out of place in the peaceful town because of a giant sword that was strapped to his back. The woman was a bit more normal; she had deep maroon eyes and long chocolate-brown hair that fell in such a way that it tickled the backs of her legs. She flicked it away from her face, irritated by it. The only thing foreign about her was her clothes, which were of distinct Midgar origin. A gust of wind picked up and her hair flew back into her face.

"Ahhh!" she screamed in annoyance. "That's it! I _have _to get my hair cut!" The blonde man looked up at his comrade. He smiled when he saw her desperately trying to hold her hair from flying all over the place.

"Tifa, your hair is lovely." he assured her.

"Cloud, verify something for me," she said, in a flat tone.

"Shoot," he replied with a shrug.

"You're a guy, right?" Cloud's eyebrows knitted together in confusion at where this conversation was going.

"I, sincerely hope so," he answered.

"Then you admit that you do _not_ know what you're talking about." She fished a hair elastic out of the pocket in her mini-skirt and furiously tried to keep her hair in one place, despite the raging gale around her.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because guys can never say one thing to make a girl feel better."

"….alright Tifa. You're a disgusting skank that I never want to see hanging around me ever again." He looked over at her. She was frozen, her mouth partially open and holding her hair up. He thought it a very funny picture. "Better?" he asked. Tifa just kept gaping at him. After a while, Cloud started scratching the back of his head; a subconscious habit he always returned to when he felt uncomfortable.

"Uh, Tifa?" he hesitantly asked.

"I. Cannot. Believe. You." she stated. "You actually cracked a joke." Cloud shrugged his shoulders again, looking down.

"We all have our moments, I guess." Tifa gave him a wry smile, then punched him hard in the chest, which, as he was totally unprepared, sent him staggering back several feet.

"Ow," he muttered. "I think I've learned not to make jokes at your expense."

"There," she said triumphantly, pulling her hair into her usual loose ponytail. "But let's not talk about my hair. There are more important things to be talking about today. For example we just bought my old house! I can't believe I'll get to live in my childhood house." She looked over at him. "And with my childhood friend of all people."

Cloud half smiled. _If being childhood friends was following her all around the place and never being accepted by her and her friends, and getting blamed for trying to save her when the bridge collapsed…._

"You know this is the first proper house I've owned since Seventh Heaven?" she said, interrupting his thoughts. "I can't believe it was for sale."

"Nibelhiem isn't that popular a destination Tifa. Besides the crappy cold weather, it's right next to a reactor, crawling with mutated monsters. I'm not surprised."

"But we're home, right?"

Cloud shook his head. "I can't call this place home anymore." he said quietly.

Tifa linked her arm through Cloud's. "Come on." He looked down at her hand momentarily before moving forward. They walked in silence through the town, taking in the buildings around them, some new, some old. A few new shops had opened in the town; one for materia and one for weapons and accessories. These were mainly for protection going through the mountain. Seeing the weapon shop, Tifa spoke up.

"That reminds me! Vincent gave us a house-warming gift. I think I'll keep it under my pillow."

"Oh?" replied Cloud, his eyebrow raising. Vincent usually had a strange taste in gifts. This case was no exception as Tifa pulled out the gun from her coat pocket. He sighed.

"House-warming," he said slowly. Tifa laughed.

"Yes, I know it's typically Vincent but at least the thought was there." Her eyes wandered past Cloud and settled on the well. "Hey, let's take a second." She broke away from him and wandered over to the stone structure which she loved so much. Cloud watched on while she strolled around it, looking for any marks or changes.

"Nope," she said satisfied. "Nothing wrong here. Hey Cloud, do you remember our prom-"

Cloud started walking away. Tifa followed, slightly confused and surprised. She fell in step with him.

"What's up? Did I do something wrong?"

"Forget about it Tifa," he replied curtly.

"Cloud, come on," she insisted, reaching out and grabbing his wrist, trying to get him to look at her. He just wrenched his arm out of her grasp and kept walking.

"What did I do?" she exclaimed, looking very exasperated. Cloud wheeled around to look at her. The suddenness of his movement made her flinch.

"You really want to know?" he asked. Tifa nodded furiously.

"You keep mentioning that_ stupid_ promise at every _single_ possible chance you get," he started, his tone rising with each sentence. "You _know_ that I held up that promise when Sephiroth almost ran you through. I kept it, it's over and I don't owe you now." His voice reached top volume. "So stop mentioning it, okay?" he yelled.

Tifa recoiled as if she'd been stung. "Cloud," she said, her voice pained. "That was harsh."

"Isn't it the truth?" he snapped. She looked into his eyes. They were like ice.

"I, I suppose," she relented.

"Then we've nothing left to talk about," he finished, marching into the house.

"Home sweet home," she muttered, before following him inside.

_That evening…_

Tifa sat on her bed and looked around. Her room was exactly how she left it; nothing had been moved or changed at all. The piano, the drawers, the bed, the wallpaper, everything was just like her memories as a kid. She had even found the secret stash she made in her piano when she was twelve. It was strange, because it was eerily weird having the same room yet the familiarity of it all was somewhat comforting.

That wasn't to say it wasn't without it's problems. The whole place felt different to her, besides the whole image of it. Sephiroth's doing, she knew. It felt wrong to her, almost in such a way that she shouldn't be here, living in the past. Her experiences of the world since that fateful day six years ago had changed her personality so much, and these new parts of her personality had not been incorporated into the room she sat in now.

But, she supposed, in time her innocent little room would slowly change to fit her new self. Now the next question was weather her new self was improved or not.

"New and improved, Tifa Lockheart," she said gloomily. She doubted it.

Her thoughts wandered back to her fight with Cloud earlier. She wondered why he'd got so mad with her. All she had done was remind him of one of her most treasured memories. Yes, she knew that he'd kept it, and yes, she now realised that she mentioned it a lot around him, but she'd thought that he remembered the promise in a good way, like she had. Why had he acted so viciously?

Thinking hard, she could think of two reasons for his reaction. The first was easy. He was a bit stressed nowadays, because he thought his life had been played out. His driving force the year before was to defeat Sephiroth, and he'd succeeded. What else was left for him now that his goal had been reached? She knew what he was thinking, she knew him better than anyone else on the planet. He thought that there was nothing left to live for, that he had no other purpose in life, that since the world was safe now nobody needed him anymore. How wrong he was. Tifa needed him more than anything else. Just knowing he was there was enough to bring sunshine into her life. She constantly loved to watch him, especially in the evenings because that's when he seemed more relaxed and willing to talk to her. She loved all the little things about him; his victory cheer, the stupid things he'd say, the way he'd scratch the back of his head when he became nervous or confused, even his shrug were all little moments that Tifa kept logged in a photo album in her brain. Every memory she had of him was so dear, and she followed him everywhere so she could keep seeing these moments. How could he not see that she needed him? Well, that was the second reason…

"Knock knock," said a voice. Tifa snapped out of her thoughts to see Cloud leaning on the doorframe, smiling down at her. Her thoughts forgotten, she just stared back at him for a few seconds, before looking back down at her hands.

"Yes?" she asked. Cloud nodded, knowing she still felt bitter about their fight earlier.

"Look, Tifa, I'm sorry about what happened today. I didn't mean what I said. I was just nervous about the house and I took it out on you and I'm sorry." Tifa continued to stare at her hands.

Cloud nodded again. "I see. You don't have to say anything. I'll talk to you later." He turned to go.

"Your words stung today, Cloud," she said. He turned back to face her. Tifa continued. "They really did you know? I _treasure_ the fact that you made that promise and helped me when I was almost dead. I found it the most heroic, unselfish thing that anyone has ever done for me. And you just brushed it off as an afterthought, no, you gave out to me for appreciating it. You just can't comprehend to what that feels like."

"I-" he stammered. "I don't know what to say. I'm very sorry Tifa, I really am. I promise I won't be like that again."

She sighed. "I forgive you." Cloud smiled. He walked into the room, sat on her bed and took her hand.

"Thanks. I don't know where I'd be without you as my friend." Tifa smiled painfully.

"_Could it ever be more than that?"_

Cloud's head snapped back, and Tifa quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my God," she whispered. "I said that out loud." Cloud just looked at her, eyes wide, saying nothing. Tifa averted her eyes.

"I'd better just say it," she said. She took a deep breath. "I love you Cloud." He just continued to stare at her, a picture of total shock on his face. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but no sound could come out of his mouth, let alone a comprehensible sentence.

"H- how, long?" he managed to choke out. Tifa shrugged. "Dunno really. Maybe since that night at the well?" Cloud nodded, slowly digesting the information. Silence resumed, and for several agonising minutes Tifa watched the seconds tick by one by one. It didn't look good. She had read several romance novels before and every one had ended with requited love and a kiss. This was nothing like that.

"Cloud?" she asked, laying her hand gently on his knee. He took her hand, looking at it momentarily before placing it back on her lap.

"Tifa," he began, trying to think of what he was going to say. "I wish I could love you like that and I've tried, God knows I've tried. But I can't. I can't love you, even though you're beautiful and have a heart of gold." He looked away. "I'm sorry."

Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her eyes started to cloud over, brimming with both tears and confusion.

"Even after all I've done for you. After finding you at the station, convincing Barret to give you a job. After staying with you for weeks in Mideel, after all my sacrifices, all we've been through, that's _nothing_ to you?" Cloud didn't look at her.

"Is it?" she yelled.

"You did that because you were my friend, like I would do because you're my friend too, my best friend at that. I love you as much as a friend can, but I'll never feel that way about you."

"What about when we were kids?" she said, desperately. "You liked me then."

"Do you remember what our relationship was like when we were kids?" He stood up and slowly gestured around the room. "This place is so full of good and bad memories. Even though I adored you Tif, you were always mean to me when you were with your friends, and I know you didn't like me then. I was rejected, so I got over it because I had to. It was only when I left that you ever noticed I was around."

"What can I say? That night at the well changed me. You changed me." Cloud sighed at her statement.

"To what? If I remember correctly, you also lied to me for about half our journey about what really happened in Nibelhiem and who I really was. You kept me living Zack's life and when I asked you about it in Gongaga you lied again, out of fear that I would remember how you treated me. That was selfish and self-centred, and even if I felt anything for you, which I don't, I wouldn't want to get into a secretive relationship like that."

"Cloud," she implored. "I've changed since then, I really have. My journey with you, our journey together made me grow up and I'm not like that anymore. I would make any sacrifice for you."

Cloud smiled a sad smile. "I know, and that's why I forgave you and that's why I want to be your friend."

"Then what is it? Is it me? Am I not pretty enough for you?"

"Tifa, stop. You know it's not that."

Realisation struck Tifa. It hit her so bad that it felt like she had taken one of Zanagan's punches right in the stomach. It was the second reason.

"It's Aeris, isn't it." She didn't pose it as a question, more as a statement but Cloud answered anyway.

"Yeah," he said, leaning his back against the wall. "I love her."

"Why, Cloud? How can you love someone like that when they're dead?"

"Love doesn't work like that. You can't make it disappear when you want to, or turn it on and off like a tap. I loved her before, and I still love her, even though she's gone." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I feel very uncomfortable now, so I think I should just leave." He made for the door.

"Cloud wait, please." she said. He turned around.

"What else is there to say?" he asked gently.

"I need you," she said simply. "When I look at you, knowing I can't have you, I feel so much pain inside, ripping through me like a disease. I need to make it go away, because I can't live like this anymore." She pulled the gun from under her pillow. Cloud's eyes widened and he took a step forward. Tifa wasn't taking any notice, instead she continued to voice her thoughts, while staring at the metal in her hands. "Maybe if I just…"

"Tifa," Cloud said in a low, slightly panicked voice. "Put down the gun." She looked up at him and he watched the tears slip down her face.

"Well what point is there in trying anymore Cloud!" she screamed, waving the gun in the air. "I just can't take it!"

"Please, Tifa, please," he pleaded, trying to get through to her.

"I'm sorry that it has to be like this."

"No, it doesn't. Put down the gun Tifa _please_," he begged, taking another step forward.

"Tell me you love me," she said.

"I can't!" he cried, his voice choking. "You know I love-"

She fired.

"Tifa," he gasped. She watched him fall to the floor, letting the gun drop from her hand.

"Now you can go to her."

**The End.**

_Evil side of Tifa! Yes I know it's been done in other fics but I've wanted to do this story for a while. And I'll defend my case by saying in most of them she kills herself, and not Cloud! Hope you liked it. R&R!_

_LastCetra_

_Also, a BIG thank you to all the wonderful reviewers of my other stories! They mean so much and keep me writing so I love you all! This fic is for the following:_

asaga, qurlo09, vdeoxgames, habbo, tsukisukhana, Clorith (I have another clorith fic written, so watch out for it! Also, please pardon the pun), Phantasmal Abduction, kawaii-leena, Kit Thespian, Dragon Sword Master, Tifa's diary, Master of the Dark Trio (thanks for the constructive ctitisim, always welcome!), kingdom219, LostShade and last but not least, Chibi Taryn Demon! THANK YOU ALL!


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